Last week in review: US becomes BTC mining leader of the world

The US has taken significant strides in BTC mining, Joe Biden is getting serious about crypto, and Citibank say their clients have gone “down the rabbit hole.” It was a busy week in crypto. Here’s our pick of the headlines.

US becomes BTC mining leader of the world

• China’s reign as Bitcoin mining hub of the world has come to an end, as recent data from Cambridge University suggests the United States is the new epicentre of crypto mining.

• According to data captured by Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, the US has been responsible for 35.4% of the hashrate since July. That’s a 428% increase from September 2020, back when China captured about 67% of the market.

• The shift follows China’s total crackdown on crypto mining in June, which took half of the world’s bitcoin miners offline.

• The United States is well suited for bitcoin mining too, with states like Texas boasting some of the lowest energy prices in the world.

First bitcoin futures ETF in the US expected this week

• The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF is likely to be made available this week, the first of its kind in the US.”

• The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not expected not to block the introduction.

• Late on Friday, the NYSE Arca stock exchange confirmed the development, and certified “[BITO] is approved for listing.”

• Crypto proponents have long been pushing regulators to approve Bitcoin ETFs, and the arrival is expected to bring a new class of investors into cryptocurrencies.

Square could introduce bitcoin mining for clients

• Square CEO Jack Dorsey has said his payments company could introduce a bitcoin mining arm.

• In a Friday tweet, Dorsey announced his payments company is considering “a bitcoin mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide.”

• Should Square move into the bitcoin mining business, Dorsey said they will follow its hardware wallet model: “built in the open in collaboration with the community.”

• Dorsey, also the founder of social media giant Twitter, said that mining needs to be more distributed, and that the more decentralised it is, the more resilient the bitcoin network will be.

• “Mining isn’t accessible to everyone,” said Dorsey. “Bitcoin mining should be as easy as plugging a rig into a power source. There isn’t enough incentive today for individuals to overcome the complexity of running a miner for themselves.”

• Tackling the the green question, Dorsey said clean and efficient use of energy is achievable:

• “Energy is a system-level problem that requires innovation in silicon, software, and integration. What are the largest opportunities here?”

Citibank say Bitcoin sent their clients “down the rabbit hole”

• According to Citibank’s global head of foreign exchange, Itay Tuchman, those who invested in bitcoin during the pandemic landed up exploring the wider crypto industry as a result.

• Speaking at the Token2049 conference in London, Tuchman said: “It was almost instantaneously a narrative about investing in crypto ecology, and decentralised networks and different kinds of financial architecture in the future; [it] became a technology—an innovation-investment conversation—in a matter of seconds.”

• “Like anyone who’s in crypto knows, you start with Bitcoin and you’re down the rabbit hole very quickly,” he added.

Joe Biden considers executive order on crypto

• The Biden administration is reportedly considering an executive order on cryptocurrencies that will require federal agencies to study and offer recommendations on relevant areas of crypto.

• Areas that would be considered include financial regulation, economic innovation and national security, said those familiar with the matter.

• It is also speculated that the initiative may also call for the appointment of a crypto czar to act as a point person.